Tuesday, April 26, 2011

A Sandwich and Some Crackers

So, some of you may be aware that I've been developing a new craft addiction - Felt Food! I had wanted to do this for a while, and when we got invited to a birthday party for a 3 year-old girl, i knew it was just the thing! I'll be showing you the things I've made a little bit at a time, so I can explain a bit about each. Today I'm starting with the sandwich and the crackers. I'm sure many of you could find the flaws in my blanket stitch - remember, I'm a novice. Please be kind. :)

PB&J

Meat

For the bread, i traced an actual piece of bread onto some cardstock to create the pattern. I used three layers of quilt batting instead of stuffing, and i like that it keeps the bread flat.

Everything else is unstuffed - just two layers of felt and a blanket stitch.

The meat and the cheese are obviously nice and easy. i actually traced a roll of packing tape for the meat, and just cut a 4 inch square for the cheese. it took me a couple of tries to get the leaf shape for the lettuce, but i got there eventually. The tomato was a challenge, but i like how it turned out - i followed the tutorial here at One Inch World.

If you're not the type to draw your own templates, there are some free printable ones here at Snazzle Craft that are similar. I like the chips too, though i opted for a bag of saltine crackers instead.

The bag is a 12 x 5 strip of felt folded in half. I didn't have any pinking shears, so i blanket stitched around the openings just to keep everything uniform. The cream-colored label and lettering are all held on with my new best friend - Steam-A-Seam fusible webbing.

I also wanted to share something i learned while making the felt food. I kinda figured out hand sewing on my own. i think my mom may have taught me once, or i just learned by watching. Either way, I never really figured out how to finish my stitching without the knot showing.

Thusly:

What I've learned is probably so obvious it hurts to see a tutorial on it, but it was new to me, so maybe it's new to someone reading this.

So, you're done stitching:

Tie your knot (i do a double knot around the beginning stitches to keep them nice and secure):

Poke your needle back through the project an inch or two (make sure the needle is going between the layers and not just out through the other side):

Pull the thread so it wrinkles the edge of your project a little:

Snip it:

And straighten the edges back out so the thread disappears into the middle of the project: